The Hobby Horses of Belief (and assorted hazards)

A divisive political figure in life, Shinzo Abe’s violent death on July 8th has inevitably divided Japan. Some are already grumbling about paying for a state funeral in September (the first since 1967) for a former prime minister whose legacy is still deeply disputed. The key element in his murder, however, appears to have been religion, not politics.

Abe’s presumed killer, Tetsuya Yamagami (41), was apparently driven by hatred of the Unification Church. Smart and ambitious, his road to middle-class prosperity was blocked when his widowed mother drained the family purse in service to a cult. According to family sources, she donated about 100 million yen (€715,000), including insurance money from her husband’s death, to the church.

Better known as the Moonies, the Unification Church claims to have about 600,000 followers in Japan. Family members say Yamagami’s distraught mother joined in 1991 after the suicide of her husband. An uncle told the media that the once prosperous clan fell into poverty, and her son had to scrap plans to attend university. “He was extremely smart just like his father ... and hardworking, too,” said the uncle. “I only have good memories of him.”

The church has tried to distance itself from claims that it bankrupted the Yamagami family. Tomihiro Tanaka, the head of its Japanese branch, confirmed that Mrs Yamagami was a member, but denied extorting money from her. The Moonies have since insisted they returned much of the cash. A group of lawyers fighting the church for the return of hundreds of millions of dollars in donations says both of those claims are false.

Either way, a picture emerges of a man who grew angry at his reduced station in life. Relatives have recalled phone calls from a young Tetsuya Yamagami and his two hungry siblings, demanding food. Instead of going to university, he joined the Maritime Self-Defence Force (Japan’s navy) in 2002, the year his mother declared bankruptcy. Thereafter, he slid down the social ladder and was unemployed and living in a one-room flat when he was arrested for Abe’s murder. Friends recall him being depressed and crying bitterly at his brother’s funeral.

The assassination has highlighted long-standing links between the Moonies and right-wing politics. The South Korean church, founded in 1954 by Rev Sun Myung Moon, a self-professed messiah, has invested heavily in conservative causes, much of this financed by selling religious baubles in Japan. Fiercely anti-communist, it set up the Washington Times newspaper in 1982 as a platform for anti-liberal views and forged ties with a string of conservative American leaders, including Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush.

Last year Donald Trump and Shinzo Abe both gave back-to-back recorded speeches to a meeting of the Universal Peace Federation, an affiliate of the church. Though neither were members, both praised the group’s work fighting for peace and “family values”. Abe warned against progressive politics, saying: “Let’s be aware of so-called social revolutionary movements with narrow-minded values.”

In the wake of Abe’s murder, journalists have begun again peering into ties between the church and the Liberal Democratic Party, the party Abe once led and which has governed Japan for all but a few years since 1955. One of the party’s elders, Abe’s grandfather Nobusuke Kishi, was a former prime minister who some experts credit with bringing the church to Japan. Politicians in Japan and America saw the church as a way to promote anti-communist views and win votes.

US healthcare plans that cover the main HIV prevention drug free of charge are in violation of the right to religious freedom, a judge has ruled.

Employers are required to cover certain preventive services and medications in their insurance plans under US law.

But a group of Texas Christians sued in 2020 over coverage of the HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, drug.

They argued the drug can "facilitate or encourage homosexual behaviour".

The lawsuit filed by Austin-based attorney Jonathan Mitchell - who is credited with devising the state's six-week abortion ban - brings together self-proclaimed Christian businesses and employers.

One plaintiff in the case, Dr Steven Hotze, argued that covering PrEP drugs for his employees would be contrary to his "sincere religious beliefs".

The federal government is expected to appeal Wednesday's ruling.

The judge said Mr Burke is entitled to hold his religious beliefs, which she had no doubt were genuine, but the decision by the school to place him on paid administrative leave was not an attack on those beliefs.

A Montessori school with 45 pupils has been forced to shut, a girl’s national school has lost its PE facility and a number of community groups are without a venue due to a standoff with a local priest over access to the parish hall in Drumcondra, north Dublin.

Public representatives, including Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe and Senator Mary Fitzpatrick are among those who have unsuccessfully sought a meeting with Fr Martin O’Shea about reopening the Corpus Christi hall on Home Farm Road in Drumcondra, which has been closed since March 2020.

The Corpus Christi hall was built in 1967/68 – funded largely by a bequest. It has been school hall for the adjacent Corpus Christi girls’ national school and provided space to Irish dancing, Zumba and older people’s groups. The hall had been home to the Montessori Children’s Academy (MCA) since 1993.

In March 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic began, the hall closed. In July 2020, Fr O’Shea wrote to MCA’s management advising occupation of the hall would be terminated due to fire safety concerns.

Manager Christina O’Riordan told The Irish Times: “We immediately engaged fire engineers who inspected the premises and found that while some remedial works were necessary, the building was perfectly safe for occupation and that any works could be done at a relatively modest cost and with minimal disruption.”

The MCA obtained a court injunction and sought production of the church’s fire-safety report. “The church said necessary works would cost in excess of €150,000. Our report found the needed works would cost about €25,000 and we offered to pay for them,” said Ms O’Riordan. “We also offered to take a long-term lease on the entire building, complete the works, and reopen the hall for the community. This offer was also rejected. At every step the only response from the church has been to insist that they want the building clear and unoccupied.”

You destroyed so easily God’s image, man.